


Stage Presence

by System_Demon



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Shadow gets a crush, check for links in chapter 2, one of my hobbies turned into a story, there is a companion piece
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:47:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29805207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/System_Demon/pseuds/System_Demon
Summary: Since their resident perfomer left Club Rouge, its been Shadow's task to find a replacement. The next candidate gives him more than he bargained for.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	1. The Candidate

Recently Club Rouge had some major events happen. Some celeb came by and held an impromptu show, the media went mad and the club became more popular than ever. So much so that running the club became too much for Rouge. Which is exactly why Shadow was now sitting in the office. Another recent development thanks to the popularity is that their resident performer left, making it Shadow’s problem to find a new one. Lucky for him that was the other person in the room. The 204th in the previous 3 months. No luck so far and the resume of this “Candidate” sure was not something to write home about.

  


“You’re definitely not experienced in this field according to this” the ebony hedgehog says flatly, tapping the piece of paper in his hand “y-yeah I mean it basically became something bigger than a hobby” they stammer while rubbing the back of their neck. “Although at the parties I do my thing at I always hear im very good” they continue. “listen mister…” a quick pause as Shadow quickly looks for the name “Mister Sonic, I’ll be very clear, we don’t really look at your past experiences, whoever came up with that lie definitely deserves to be shot.” He says calmly while leaning forward in his chair making Sonic gulp loudly. “What we focus on is what you can do currently, and how you can improve in our fine establishment” he continues while putting the resume down and relaxes a bit.

  


Reveling in the shock he gave the hedgehog across the table Shadow continues. “We do have to see how you perform on stage.” A devilish smile creeping onto his face. “For that id ask you to come along with me downstairs. We put all our Candidates on there and make them do their thing for a bit.” Putting emphasis on the ‘make’ in that sentence he gets up from his seat and walks towards the door. “S-so I have to get on stage like right now?” Sonic stammers “Oh not right now, I hope you brought a change of clothes and your equipment. Or at least. Something with some songs on it” the ebony hedgehog says with his shoulder against the doorframe.

  


“There’s a dressing room next door, get yourself ready and head down the stairs, we’ll be waiting.” And with that Sonic sat in that room on his own. “What the fuck” he breathes. “One moment you think you’re applying for a job and the next they make it like you’re gonna be a stripper.” He sighs once before getting up and grabbing his bag. He did bring an outfit in case they wanted him to change. Quickly running into the room next door, he checks for cameras before getting changed and checking if his laptop powers on, as he forgot his charger. “Yeah 92% battery, let’s go” the cobalt hedgehog laughs before walking out.

  


Down the stairs, Rouge and Shadow are waiting for Sonic. “You should have seen the look on his face Rouge” he laughs “Absolutely terrified we’d put him in a cage and make him dance.” “You do know this is partially why a lot don’t make it through even the first set. You should stop scaring them shitless, handsome” Rouge says before perking at the sound of shoes descending the stairs “Aah look who it i-“ Shadow’s words trail off as he gets a proper look at the slowly descending hedgehog. Black jeans, a grey t-shirt and a red leather jacket that works well with his equally red shoes. The usual white gloves replaced with a set of fingerless ones. The peach underfur giving a nice contrast on his hands.. A laptop secured under one arm while the other holds onto the railing.

  


Rouge nudges Shadow to make him snap back to reality. “A-anyway. Are you ready for your test?” The unusually nervous hybrid asks “Yeah I think I am, you’re not gonna put me in one of the dancing cages right. I came here to apply as a DJ” Sonic says. “Yeah, Shadow here was just teasing you a little, he does that to everyone” she says before Rouge gives Shadow a harder nudge making the hedgehog stumble a bit “You okay there big guy?” she asks snapping Shadow out of his unrelenting trance. “yes, I’m okay. Hedgehog…” Sonic snaps his head towards the other “we do have to tell you we are recording this performance from multiple angles. We have had a few people try to cheat by playing pre-recorded sets. We’re expecting at least you have the skills to mix live.” The ebony hedgehog explains before gesturing towards the stage.

  


Both Sonic and Rouge step onto the stage. Getting a roaring applause from the crowd as he begins to set up the laptop and Rouge nears the microphone “Ladies and Gentlemen. As you know we recently lost our permanent DJ to Dr Eggman and his interstellar theme park. So put your hands together for another candidate. Sonic the hedgehog” she yells into the mic before taking it off the stage, placing it behind the speakers and sitting down next to Shadow. “this oughta be good.”

  



	2. The Performance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its finally time for Sonic to perform. Will he succeed in winning over the crowd and his two judges? find out down below

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So its finally time to include the Mix I made to accompany this story. the story skips a big part because its not fun to just read for 20 minutes and im physically incapable of making that entertaining. therefore Im gonna let my mixing do the talking 
> 
> for brevity its linked right at the start of this chapter.
> 
> hope you enjoy the conclusion of this story, and who knows, maybe i'll make more of this AU in the future.

[Soundcloud Link to the mix](https://soundcloud.com/user-723637351/sonadow-fic-mix) hope you enjoy the noises Sonic plays on stage in full

* * *

Sonic is met with thunderous applause from the crowd as he finishes setting up. On the desk in front of him is a set of turntables, his laptop, propped up on a little stand so it’s not flat on the table. And a microphone. A little clock on the table started counting down from 21 minutes. The hedgehog presses play on the first track as he grabs the microphone to speak to the crowd “Hey guys, I’m Sonic the hedgehog and I hope you like what I’m gonna play for you.” as he pulls the mic away the music starts building and the hedgehog gets fully in the zone.

His entire body starts moving along to the beat. Finding the rhythm quite quickly and cueing up another song to play, mixing that with the first song so it doesn’t confuse the crowd. He plans on not keeping this song playing by itself as he quickly mixes another drop together. The two songs almost symbiotically making a thunderous combination that has the crowd jumping and screaming for more.

On the side of the stage Shadow stands there mouth wide open as Sonic continues with his work. The bat next to him quickly lost the stoic façade as she is now fully enjoying what the hedgehog on stage is serving to everyone. “Chaos Shadow, this guy is fantastic we need to hire him immediately” Rouge laughs while nudging the ebony statue next to her. Snapping Shadow out of his trance he quickly checks the tiny monitor in his hands. On the screen he can clearly see Sonic from above flicking through songs on one deck while the other one plays the current song. He shows this to Rouge “This guy is legit as well, look.” She laughs “Okay we definitely need to keep him.”

“Definitely for his skills” the other replies as he goes back to watching the stage. Well, what is on stage. Another double plays as he is back to being entranced by the hedgehog. Something is so fluid about his movements. He’s jumping around, twisting knobs and interacting with the crowd all at the same time. As if its second nature to him. Shadow had to admit, not only did Sonic look good in that outfit he also was a natural at the table.

Not all the mixes were perfect. Some had a little bit of dissonance or a little bit of vocal from one song was still a little audible but Sonic seemed to just laugh it off and continue on. Now Shadow was incredibly impressed, most other candidates either got mad, stopped the mix to retry or just stormed off. To see someone just laugh off a little weird mistake was a fresh sight.

Rouge noticing that Shadow is staring more intently at Sonic and missing what the crowd’s reaction is stops dancing for a moment to peer around the speakers next to her. The crowd is loving it. Even the light guy at the back who, should be helping making the stage look less bland, had completely forgot his task. Thankfully nobody seemed to mind. Suddenly, the music stuttered to an echo and going quiet, the stage went dark and everyone cheered. Shadow and Rouge looking concerned. It wasn’t time yet to stop. A little more than 3 minutes still on the clock until the entire stage lit back up. Shelter by Madeon and Porter Robinson shocking everyone “Thank you guys, this was so much fun.” Sonic yelled into the microphone as he set off on wrapping up while the song played. Shadow noticed some scrambling in the booth across the club and suddenly as the song got to the drop, confetti and smoke burst from the stage. Signaling to the managers that even the crew agreed with hiring this DJ on permanently.

The song ends and the lights turn off again. Sonic quickly closes his laptop and runs off stage almost crashing into Shadow and Rouge “So, whaddya think” the blue blur laughs scanning the two mobians in front of him. ”Personally I’d hire you on the spot but Shadow here is in control over the hiring process so he has the final say.” Rouge says, motioning to the ebony hedgehog next to her. Shadow is still staring blankly at Sonic. He can see the cogs turning behind those Crimson eyes but cannot fathom what it is that he is thinking about.

The hybrid’s brain is going a mile a minute, completely forgetting the existence of Rouge or the task of seeing if Sonic was a potential hire for this job. Of course he was but not just for his talent behind the table. Images flashing back to the front of his mind as he recalls just being entranced by how Sonic was jumping and dancing, it was mesmerizing, those hips swaying back and forth, the quills on his head trailing behind with all the movements. Did he seriously just develop a crush on someone he just met? That’s impossible there’s no way.

The Hybrid is finally snapped from his trance by a loud clap near his ear. Turning to see the offender he is met with an annoyed Rouge and a very confused Sonic. “What did you do that for.” he asks confused. “You were practically hypnotized by Blue here, I doubt you even heard his question.” she accuses and Shadow mentally agrees, “No I was merely evaluating, that requires focus and making decisions based on what I saw on stage.” He lies. “Lets go back to the upstairs and we’ll discuss” “Okay, no problemo Shadow” Sonic replies and follows suit. Rouge heads back on stage to thank the guests in the meantime.

Once back into the office the hedgehogs both sit at the desk. A heavy silence fills the room as Shadow looks down at his tablet and Sonic is left to just idly look around the room. Only being called to attention when Shadow clears his throat and extends a hand “Welcome to the Team, Sonic” the usual scowl changed to a warm smile. Sonic doesn’t hesitate for a moment and grabs the other’s hand “I’m happy you chose me” he smiles and starts packing his stuff back into his bag. “So when can I start?” Sonic chuckles “how about tomorrow, 2pm, We have to sign your paperwork and get a schedule set out” The professionalism creeping back into Shadows voice. “Gotcha see ya then” the cobalt hedgehog replies winking as he exits the office.

Shadow doesn’t know if he is just relieved to have new talent on his hands. Or if said talent will end up in his arms eventually. All he does know, is that Sonic has already brought enough to the table to win his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> This one was short and sweet. 
> 
> This fic was partly inspired by KatyPery's fic Private Affairs. I have another in the works that goes more traditional with a playlist. but this one will have a mix that the story references to in Chapter 2. I definitely recommend reading Private Affairs. especially with the playlist they made to go along with it.


End file.
